Yesterday was the first time the Minister for Police had come out of hiding from her last fortnight in exile. The last two weeks Kate Worden has been unable to front Territorians due to the debacle with the Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s position but yesterday she couldn’t resist the chance to grab a headline.
Shadow Minister for Territory Families Josh Burgoyne said “Minister Kate Worden’s comment’s about Peter Dutton’s visit to further highlight the problems in Alice Springs that her government has failed to fix were nothing short of disgraceful.”
“As Minister for Territory Families and Police, the failings of the Labor Government to not protect children and properly resource our exhausted local Police sits squarely at her feet.”
“The facts are that child abuse in the Northern Territory is five times the national average on her watch” he said.
“Child abuse notifications for children under one is almost four times the national average.”
“The constant feedback I get from residents here in Alice is that Kate Worden and the Fyles Government have their head in the sand and even her Federal Labor colleagues agree.” He said
This morning on radio, Marion Scrymgour the Labor Member for Lingiari said “I think that Kate Worden and her Department need to do their work. I think there is a clear level of people not taking responsibility for dealing with these young people.”
“I think that Kate Worden and her Department need to do their work.”
“I think Kate Worden needs to look at her Department, and herself, to look at the Act, and to deal with this issue, and to deal with it now,” Ms Scrymgour said.
ENDS